The Delhi Police has arrested four African nationals for running a visa and passport forgery racket in the capital. A large cache of forged documents, electronic equipment, and cash was recovered, officials said on Monday.
Ankit Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said in a press briefing, “The arrests are linked to an earlier operation on September 10, when two African nationals, Benjamin Izuchukwu (43) from Nigeria and Coulibaly Mariam (29) from Côte d’Ivoire, were caught with 354.8 grams of high-grade cocaine in Chhattarpur. Investigations revealed that both were staying in India on forged visas.”
During sustained interrogation, the duo disclosed that their counterfeit documents had been provided by another African national, Nwachukwu Benjamin, residing in the Burari–Sant Nagar area.
Acting on this lead, police conducted a targeted raid and arrested four individuals: Nwachukwu Benjamin, Emmanuel Ifeanyichukwu, Paul Olisameka, and Precious Osasere — all Nigerian nationals living illegally in India after their visas had expired.
The police recovered one laptop, one colour printer, three pen drives, seven mobile phones, two bank passbooks, five ATM cards, six forged passports/visas, and ₹17,000 in cash from their possession.
According to the officer, the main accused, Benjamin, had entered India illegally in 2017 and set up a forgery network, producing fake visas for overstaying African nationals for ₹2,000–3,000 each.
“He also allegedly ran an online scam, impersonating Europeans on social media to defraud Indian citizens with fake customs stories,” the officer added.
The racket not only facilitated illegal stays but also supported drug trafficking and financial fraud. The backward and forward linkages of the syndicate are under investigation.
This bust adds to a series of recent operations by the South District Police. In the last 15 days, three major NDPS cases have led to eight arrests, with the seizure of over 73 kg of ganja and 354.8 gm of cocaine.